The Last Of Us

Wow, the WikiPedia page for it (a short story in itself) does sound awesome. In fact, I want to go read the short story on the WikiPedia page again. It is that awesome.

WikiPedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us

And the Forbes story:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/06/18/the-last-of-us-isnt-a-game-about-choices/



The last game console I owned (and still do) is my original Atari 2600. Are you telling me it is time to upgrade?

If there was ever a reason to buy a console... This is it. Even at the end of this generation of consoles. It's a shame it wasn't released for next gen or pc.. But sony holds all the cards with naughty dog as their first party developer. But it works so well on that ps3 and looks just as gorgeous. If this is the game to define a generation.. Sony went out of the generation with a nuclear explosion of a bang.

If I did not already own a ps3.. I would have bought one just to play this. I wasn't even looking forward to this game on launch night. Just another midnight release to attend. Was I surprised not only to see the crowd there waiting along side me.. But what a shock it's been playing this masterpiece.

If this type of sensation ever happens again in gaming history.. I would honestly be surprised. It started off slow.. Then just mind blown after mind blown after mind blown.

I don't get it.

Don't get me wrong, its not a bad game. The production values are top notch, the story is decent, the voice acting is phenomenal.

But I guess I don't understand the hype? There is nothing new going on with gameplay. Its primarily a third person shooter that is plagued by QTEs. It goes from cutscene to shoot guys in the head to cutscene. There are some smart choices made here but I still managed to get bored.

Maybe I've just been playing shooters too long?

QTE's are only used in fail situations and thats fine. I too think this is a REALLY good game. It has a very personal story and the stealth gameplay is really good (much better than uncharted). The atmosphere is just awesome and the enemy design rocks. The best zombie type enemies I have seen for a long time. The crafting and skill system is useful and straightforward and not as annoying as it is in most other games.
Another thing I really like is how they handled achievements and collectables. The collectibles don't feel like collectibles and add to the actual game and achievements are nearly not there during singleplayer which both adds immensely to the atmosphere.
Naugthy Dogs masterpiece.

I'm enjoying it immensely as well. I've never been such a wreck after playing a game... sweaty palms and feeling anxious. Like any game, you have to be in the right mindset to get full immersion. If you treat it like any other shooter then yes, it seems just like QTEs broken up by shooting people in the head.

The environments and animation detail are what astound me. Simple things like, say you are crouched near a wall... Joel will put out a hand to steady himself on the wall. Such a small detail but beautifully executed, and helps draw you in to the world.

It's been a while since I've played a good survival horror game. You almost always feel like you are out of ammo and out of supplies, which means Naughty Dog did their job correctly :) Also, as Archy mentioned the stealth mechanic is great. Rather than feel like an expert assassin or something, I feel like a vulnerable hunter. Feels good stalking around and using the 'hearing' mechanic

I haven't played the Uncharted series so I really don't know how it compares. Should I go back and play those after Last of Us, or will I just be disappointed?

"sinoth" wrote:
I haven't played the Uncharted series so I really don't know how it compares. Should I go back and play those after Last of Us, or will I just be disappointed?

The Uncharted games are great. They play similar to LOU but much more action oriented: You always have enough ammo, jump higher, have more HP and there are only humans as enemies. Also there are tons of collectibles and the maps are very nice. You can safely skip part one thought. PS+ currently has the third part included in the games collection. I enjoyed them alot although they are not as special as the last of us.
The new Tomb Raider plays very similiar.

Interesting. It reminds me of that comment Spielberg recently made:

""Lucas and Spielberg also spoke of vast differences between filmmaking and video games because the latter hasn't been able to tell stories and make consumers care about the characters," Bond said."

Guess they're a little behind the times...

It isn't my typical type of game, but I did love it, and that's saying something for a game. I even enjoyed the multiplier, and I generally HATE online multiplier. All that being said, what disappointed me most is the New Game +. I didn't bother playing it because from what I could find there are no additional scenes or options. I would have liked an alternate ending

where you could let the girl die and find a cure

that would have been enough to have me play again, but even in spite of not having any incentive to play the game a second time

the first time only took me 12 hours

it is definitely a game I highly recommend getting, and have to many people.

I don't often get this tingle of excitement over new games anymore. I think I'll wait for my kit to arrive before I actually get the game. It'll be a bit of a wait though...

So... I ended up buying TLOU before my DevKit arrived (could be within the week!). About 60% in, and my brother liked watching me play so much he started playing. The voice acting and character moments are very well executed, and the environment detail is all you can ask for. scsioverdrive's complaints hold truth, but for me the experience works, and the strategic stealth elements add a sense of accomplishment to victories that I don't feel as much of in all-out shooters. It doesn't seem to support stereoscopic 3D, but I run it through an AdapSonic2D-3D converter, and it's a pretty nifty device.